Yankees 11, Indians 6: Tribe drops home opener

Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Matt Albers reacts after giving up a solo home run to New York Yankees' Robinson Cano in the sixth inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 8, 2013, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Opening day always means lots of pomp and circumstance, and in their home opener Monday at Progressive Field the Indians got pomped by their own circumstance.

Pomped, whomped and stomped.

Yankees 11, Indians 6.

The boys are back in town.

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Sailing home Sunday night on the wings of a remarkable 13-0 wash and rinse of Tampa Bay and reigning Cy Young winner David Price, the Indians on Monday laid an opening-day egg in front of a sellout crowd of 41,567.

Tribe starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who was so good in his first start on the road trip, was so Ubaldo on Monday. Looking every bit the lost pitching soul he was for most of last year, Jimenez was hammered for seven runs on seven hits and three walks in just 4 1/3 innings.

"Nothing was working. Just a bad day," he said with a sigh.

To add insult to circumstance, Travis Hafner, in his first game back at Progressive Field after 10 years with the Indians, smashed a three-run home run off Jimenez in the first inning and an RBI single in the third.

Hafner, who got a warm reception from the fans during the pre-game introductions, reached base in four of his five plate appearances, going 2-for-3 with a home run, two walks, four RBI and three runs scored.

"It was really a neat day. I got a nice ovation, which is something I'll never forget," said Hafner.

"He put some good swings on the ball. He beat us today," said Tribe left fielder Michael Brantley.

Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, who came into the game hitting .130, added two home runs and a double as the Yankees pounded out 13 hits off five Tribe pitchers.

From his days managing the Red Sox, Indians manager Terry Francona knows the type of havoc Cano can wreak when he gets hot.

"When he starts feeling good he can hit anyone, anywhere," Francona said. "That's the last guy you want to see get going. He's one of the best hitters in the game."

The game wasn't even as close as the score indicates. It was 11-3, with half the sellout in their cars and on their way home when the Indians scored three window-dressing runs in the eighth inning, two coming on a home run by Mike Aviles.

The Tribe's trouble began in that first inning, when Jimenez gave up a walk and a single in front of Hafner's booming 410-foot home run over the center field wall.

"It was evident right from the beginning he was going to struggle. He was fighting with his mechanics," said Francona, who admitted he tried to nurse Jimenez through as many innings as he could to spare the bullpen a day of overwork.

"Losing a game is bad enough, but losing a game and ruining your bullpen is worse," said Francona. "Fortunately he (Jimenez) got far enough into the game that we didn't have to empty our pen."

Jimenez did so by wobbling through four-plus innings as the Yankees took line drive practice.

New York starter Hiroki Kuroda also struggled in the first inning, but unlike Jimenez Kuroda settled down after that and pitched into the sixth inning to get the win.

"We had a real chance in the first inning. We had him on the ropes," Francon said. "But to his credit he started going more to his breaking ball and he was able to stay out there."

Kuroda bobbed and weaved his way through 5 1/3 innings, holding the Indians to three runs on five hits.

"You tip your cap to him. He made adjustments and we didn't," Brantley said.

Indeed, the Indians' offense sputtered for much of the day. The three runs in the eighth inning came off Yankee reliever Shawn Kelley.

Michael Bourn was the only Indians hitter with more than one hit. He singled in the seventh inning and tripled in the eighth.

It was a deflating, nearly four-hour home opening snoozer in which the sellout crowd had very little to cheer about.